Getting Prolific, Day 22: Hunger Wins

How does what you’re fired up about make the rest of your life happy?

Desire is the most potent source of human motivation there is.

Wanting is what provides us the fuel to seek out the things that make us happy. Even if doing so costs us significant time, money, energy, safety, social capital or sanity, if we really crave someone or something, then there’s nothing that’s going to stop us from getting it.

It’s all hunger. It’s who wants it more. Period.

That’s an important principle to remember anytime we’re not satisfied with where we are in our lives. Hunger is the kind of constraint that reveals to us just quickly we can actually get things done, when we really want to.

I love when stories like these pop up in the news. Some person invests a disproportionate amount of effort to obtain this one thing that they want. Here’s a collection of my favorites.

There’s the story about the man who drove five hours to a surgery center across state lines just to get the hernia procedure that his insurance wouldn’t cover. Yikes.

Or the loyal customers who waited in line overnight in the cold to eat the new fried chicken sandwich from their favorite fast food joint. Delicious.

And then there’s the actor who was filming a movie in the mountains, and his agent called him to audition for another part, so he literally flew around the world to come in for a few minutes just to read for the role and meet the director. Think he got the part?

What about the equality activists who began chartering buses across the country to transfer local same sex couples to a state that would legally marry them? Now that’s what you call romantic.

And of course, who could forget the woman who spontaneity booked a hotel room and drove five hours to meet the man she had been casually chatting with for a few weeks on an online dating site. God bless all of these people.

Now, to be fair, there are probably hundreds of other unreported stories where the results weren’t quite so positive. And sure, these people’s behavior may seem excessive and obsessive on the surface.

But then again, who are we to pass judgment on people’s desires? What we do we know about what others want? Haven’t we all had our own go to great lengths moments like these?

These stories aren’t about the object of people’s desire, but their commitment to attaining it. That’s the lever anyone can pull to increase their overall fulfillment.

Hunger can change everything we thought we knew about ourselves. It’s quite surprising us just how quickly people can actually get things done, when we really want to.

Desire alone may not be not enough to motivate action. But while wanting doesn’t guarantee success, without it, failure is almost certain. If you’re not where you want to be, take stock of your energy.

Use it as your organizing principle. Align your dreams with what you’re totally fired up about. And if you’re not in a position to do that, invert the equation.

Don’t follow your passion, but bring it with you. Use whatever you are fired up about to make the rest of your life happy.

As long as hunger lights the way, it’s going to be hard to stop you.

Speaking of which, there’s a fried chicken sandwich with my name on it, and I’ve got a long drive ahead of me.

What’s worth spending a significant amount of your time, money, energy, safety, social capital or sanity to obtain?

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